


Three Seasons

by ghostofachancewithyou



Category: Law & Order: SVU
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-25
Updated: 2017-12-25
Packaged: 2019-02-16 16:45:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13058055
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ghostofachancewithyou/pseuds/ghostofachancewithyou
Summary: Olivia and Bayard meet again after several years and rekindle their friendship ... Okay, it's a little more than friendship.





	Three Seasons

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AspieMirror](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AspieMirror/gifts).



**Summer**

“No, you have to do it like _this_.”  


Central Park, Heckscher Playground, Sunday afternoon. It's Olivia's day off. Noah time. She watches him from her place on the bench as he shows a cute black toddler girl how to operate his toy car's remote control. She's barely strong enough to hold it in her tiny hands, but she's giggling and babbling happily … until she flips a switch the wrong way and the car rushes into the bushes.  


“You did it all wrong! No! Ughh, just give it back to me!” Noah's yelling now, and suddenly a tall black man in his fifty appears out of nowhere.  


“Emily, come on, give that back to the boy.” And then he turns to Noah. “I'm sorry, let me get the car for you.”  
  
That voice. Deep and booming, friendly.  
  
“Bayard?”  
  
The man turns around.  
  
It's him.  
  
“Olivia Benson.  _Lieutenant_ Benson, that is.”  
  
He looks surprised. Delighted.  
  
“It's so good to see you, how have you been, Bayard?”  
  
They stand a foot apart from each other. She leans in to hug him, right as he extends his hand. They laugh and then hug anyway.  
  
“By the way. This is my granddaughter, Emily. Say hi, Emily?”  
  
The little girl waves at her shyly. Olivia kneels down to greet her.  
  
“Hi Emily, my name is Olivia.”  
  
“My daughters and son-in-law are just over there. Why don't you join us?”

*

Olivia's flipping through her contacts. Dodds, Dodds, Eames. Ellis.  
  
“There you are. Did you change your number?”  
  
“No, still the same.”  
  
She looks up at him and smiles softly.  
  
“Yes. You are.”

*

Dinner at Kefi's. Old friends catching up. When they hug goodbye and hold each other for a second longer than necessary they're both very sure it's just the bottle of Retsina they shared.  


At least that's what Bayard keeps telling himself as he lays in bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep.

 

**Fall**

Long Island. Sunday morning. They're both early birds.  


“Thanks for having us. It's beautiful.”  
  
Bayard had invited Olivia and Noah to join the party to celebrate his 55th birthday at his beach house.  
  
Olivia gazes over the ocean and rubs her gloved hands together.  
  
“I need to get out of the city once in a while," Bayard says. "And it's so important for the kids, too. They need to learn there's more than cabs and traffic and rude people.”  
  
“Can't argue with that.”  
  
“I considered selling the house after Carla ...” His voice grows smaller before he pauses abruptly and looks down on the ground.  
  
“I get it.”  
  
Olivia knows. Carla, his wife of twenty-five years had passed two years earlier.  
  
Bayard stares into the distance for a few seconds, but then he remembers he's not alone and looks at Olivia.  
  
“But I decided I to think of myself, too. For the first time in my life. I need this place. I deserve to come here and ... find peace.”  
  
“You do.”  
  
Slowly, she reaches out her hand and intertwines her fingers with his.  
  
“I don't need your pity, Olivia.”  
  
The words are harsh, but his voice is endlessly soft.  
  
“I'd never pity you,” she whispers.  
  
He squeezes her hand briefly before letting go of her. They look out on the ocean.

 

**Winter**

“He's already sleeping like a rock.”  
  
With a sigh, Olivia sits down at the sofa and grabs a gingerbread cookie off the plate on the coffee table in front of them.  
  
“I envy that kid. I wish I could sleep like that. No matter how tired I am, I always need an hour until I fall asleep. Even after two hours of ice-skating,” Olivia chuckles.  
  
Bayard looks at her with furrowed brows.  
  
“That doesn't sound healthy.”  
  
She looks at him, puzzled, maybe even a little indignant?  
  
“I can handle it, I'm used to it.”  
  
“Yes. That's what concerns me.”  
  
That look. Intense. A little too intense, maybe.  
  
Olivia sighs.  
  
“Don't you think I don't know? I'm doing fine. I have a great nanny. And I'm way too young to retire, Bayard. And this apartment ...” she gestures around with her free hand, “... rent doesn't pay itself.”  
  
“All I'm saying is, please, take care of yourself. There's more to life than the job.”  
  
Olivia takes another bite of her cookie, tempted to roll her eyes. She's heard this from too many people.  
  
“Bayard, I thought you of all people would understand. There are things that are bigger than us, more important than us ...”  
  
“More important than you and your health and happiness?”  
  
_Whoa. Out of line._  
  
She gets up and walks over to the kitchen area.  
  
“Can I offer you a coffee before you leave? Espresso?”  
  
She stands with her back to him, doesn't want him to see her face, doesn't want him to see how much his words affected her. Yes, she has heard them before. She doesn't know why she's feeling so damn vulnerable right now, she just wishes she wouldn't.  
  
And then he's next to her.  
  
“I apologize. I had no right ...“  
  
Did she just imagine it or is his voice shaking slightly?  
  
“You're doing a great job. You're a great mother. You're special.”  
  
She finally turns to him.  
  
“Thanks. Don't be sorry.”  
  
He smiles warmly at her.  
  
“It's just … I had to learn the hard way that someday … someday it's just too late.”  
  
She nods, looks down, her lids are fluttering. Bayard's hands are cupping her elbows. She wonders what his cashmere sweater would feel like against her cheek. Or her hand on his heaving chest as he laughs heartily at something funny she said. She had been wondering all day, ever since she had seen Noah riding on his shoulders, unable to tell whose smile had been brighter.  
  
  
He's so close. He smells of forest and leather.  
  
She opens her eyes and looks up at him.

-

Olivia's surprised at her own passion. _Never_ , she thinks as she's moving on top of him, it has _never_ felt so—she gasps and her head tilts back.  
His moans spur her on and she falls. Deeper, closer, closer, together.

-

“That was six years in the making.”  
  
Olivia's head is resting on his chest and now she tilts up her head.  
  
“So you really _did_ fall in love with me at first sight?!”  
  
Of course she's just teasing him, but her cheeky smile fades when she sees the look on his face. Serious. Vulnerable.  
  
“I'm, sorry, Bayard,” Olivia sits up and wipes her forehead. “I didn't meant to—Carla was still—”  
  
Instead of an answer, Bayard takes her hand and places small kisses all over it.  
  
“Carla was the love of my life. But my life isn't over yet. And I hope this time you'll remain a part of it.”  
  
She nods. She knows. It's enough.  
  
Olivia holds him close until he's asleep. 

–

She glances at the alarm clock on her night table. Soon she'll have to wake him. They didn't talk about it, but it goes without saying that they wouldn't want to Noah to see them like this. Not yet.

The sky over the city turns from gray to red to light.  
  
It's the 31st of December, and Olivia is happy.

**Author's Note:**

>   * The line "[the sky over the city] turns from gray to red to light" is taken from Kettcar's song "Nacht."
>   * This is my first time writing for both of these characters. Constructive criticism is welcomed.
>   * Please consider leaving a comment or kudos if you enjoyed this.
> 



End file.
